Betrayal In Its Simplest Form
Chapter 5
"Absolutely not." The protest was deadly, hissed with anger and authority. It made Aomine, who was the only one in the room beside the arguing two, shiver with fear.
Kuroko didn't seem to be fazed by the tone. He was sitting up on the large king bed, which was a little too big for the small teen, his back supported by a large amount of pillows. Heavy blankets covered up to his waist, but did nothing for his naked upper body. Blank, Kuroko-like eyes stared into hetero ones defiantly. The only clue you could pick up from the emotionless teen was the small furrow between two blue eyebrows.
Rakuzan's captain was a different story, however. His whole frame radiated controlled fury. Red and yellow eyes gleamed dangerously at the arguing boy, usually a sign a crazy punishment was on its way. His body stance; back erect, arms crossed tightly over his chest, and legs shoulder-width apart, told that he was not letting Kuroko out of the room anytime soon.
How can Tetsu not be scared? Aomine thought faintly. Or maybe he is, and I just can't tell.
"Akashi-kun," Kuroko challenged. "I have to go."
"Whether you have to or not, I don't care. You are not going."
"Seirin depends on me."
"They will have to do without for awhile, then. A team is not strong if they cannot win with one person missing."
The small teen finally showed more signs of anger. He clenched the bed sheets and threw a small glare at the captain. "I have to go, Akashi-kun! They'll be suspicious of me!"
"You are not going to today's practice, and that is final." Akashi's voice held no room for argument. Even Kuroko knew when to stop pushing the red head. Defeated, said boy lowered his gaze to the bed sheets, his mouth set into an angry line. There was nothing but tense silence for what seemed like hours but was only minutes. Aomine tried to edge closer to the door. "Tetsuya." Akashi sighed and moved toward the sulking boy. "I understand your frustration of not being able to participate with your team, but you're injured. You've only just begun to heal, and moving around, especially in sports, is not a good way to recuperate. Also, I want you out of your mother's sights for a little longer. It's for your own safety."
A hand rested on Kuroko's head. He leaned against the caress, knowing his former teammate was right. Akashi let the teal haired boy rest against his hand for a minute before gently laying Kuroko down into a sleeping position. He pressed a kiss on the pale forehead. "You should rest, now. Daiki, stay in the room and guard the door."
With that, the red head left silently, the door clicking. Aomine sighed. Why me? Why not Murasakibara? He's a better guard than me.
"Aomine-kun?"
The tanned teen snapped up his head and looked at Kuroko. "Yeah?" He grabbed a chair and set it next to the bed, straddling it so that he could hear the quiet boy better.
"Do you—like Kise-kun?"
Tōō's ace could feel his face getting warmer. "What kind of question is that?" he rubbed the back of his neck and let out a deep breath. "Y-yeah, I guess I do."
Kuroko nodded. "That's good. Kise-kun had a crush on you since middle school."
"Hah?" Aomine's eyes widened at the piece of information. "He did? He was always around you, though."
"I was the only one who would listen to his rants about you," the injured boy confessed. "And . . . he would listen to me, too."
If Aomine had dog ears, they would be perking by now. A teasing smirk came onto his lips. "Oh? Does Tetsu have a crush on someone?"
Tetsuya looked the other way, his face blanker than ever. "I never said that, Aomine-kun." His fingers twiddled nervously with each other. "I don't have time to worry over something small, like a crush." He felt almost childish to say it.
The tanned player looked around hesitantly to make sure no flying scissors would come out of nowhere. You just never knew what kind of death traps Akashi would set up in his rooms. Once upon a time, Aomine Daiki complained loudly about the red-head's behavior when Akashi had left to retrieve something from his room. Triggered somehow by the insult, a pair of scissors had suddenly whizzed through the air and aimed itself right between the split ends of Aomine's hair. Since then, the tanned teenager knew to keep his mouth shut, his captain there or not.
He did a once more check around the room before whispering into the patient boy's ear, "You know, Akashi seems to like you."
Kuroko gave Aomine a look that you would give to an idiot. The victim of the glare threw his hands up defensively. "I'm only telling you from what I see. He obviously treats you differently from the rest of us." The ace thought about what he said, and quickly rephrased his sentence. "Well, he treats you more affectionately. We all treat you differently. Can you blame us?" Before he realized what he was doing, his hand absent-mindedly ran through Kuroko's teal hair. Kuroko waved it away.
"Why does everyone do that?" Kuroko said and tried to fix his hair.
"It's soft," Aomine replied immediately. "And you don't protest when Akashi does it."
A faint blush came onto Kuroko's cheeks. "That's different. I can't argue with Akashi-kun." His voice hinted he was talking about something else.
"Hey, I do agree with him on this, Tetsu," he said. "I don't think you should go to practice, either. You were hurt badly just a day and a half ago. That's hardly enough time for you to heal."
Kuroko didn't answer. He felt angry at the fact his old partner was siding with Akashi. Yes, his back still hurt, but he didn't need to move much to simply pass the ball. He wasn't very athletic anyways, so his team didn't expect him to run hard. They couldn't see he wanted to help Seirin in every way possible because he knew he could actually make a difference when standing on the court. And with Kaijou's practice match coming up (Kise already left for to practice with his team), he knew they needed him more than ever.
" . . All right," Aomine exhaled loudly. Kuroko could hear him stand up and set the chair back in its place. "I guess you can go to sleep. I'll be right outside the door." It was more of a warning than a comforting statement. Another kiss to his head. It wasn't the tender, affectionate swift kiss Akashi usually gave to him on the forehead or hair. It was a hesitant, rough peck, barely felt on his scalp. Kuroko made a small sigh of satisfaction to acknowledge him and buried deeper in the pillows.
The short boy was used to his old teammate's ways of showing their care for him. It had started ever since Teiko. Whenever a girl nervously confessed to him—which didn't happen often since girls usually didn't notice him—the closest Generation of Miracles member would grab him by the shoulders and glare at the victim. The girl would run away with a squeal. Rumors had once passed for a week that all of the Generation of Miracles players were into boys. You would think this would decrease girl fans, but in that week, everyone—especially Kise—received a locker full of fan letters. Yet Kuroko didn't receive a single letter.
Later on, he found a trash bin that held twelve fan letters addressed to him. It didn't take him long to figure who had broken into his locker and threw them away.
A small smile graced the pale face. As frustrating as they could be, Kuroko at least knew he would be safe with them, his mother there or not.
At least, he thought he knew.
~In Living Room~
"Are we going to lock Kuro-chin in your room all day, Aka-chin?"
"No. We are just going to have him rest in my room until Seirin's mandatory practices ends," Akashi frowned at the snacking purple-head. "Shouldn't you be at a practice match today, Atsushi? And I sharply remember ordering your captain to increase your training menu by a third." Stern eyes fixed on the guilty teen.
Murasakibara slumped his shoulders. "I don't want to go," he mumbled.
"Repeat that?"
"I don't want to go," the taller said louder.
"You're going."
Murasakibara sighed loudly and groaned, as if he was a kid being forced to take out the trash, then pouted and grabbed his basketball bag. He threw one last pleading glance to the watching Akashi, but started to move out the door when he realized it would change nothing. "Aka-chin is so mean," he complained before slamming the door.
A smirk appeared on Akashi's face. Despite being incredibly dangerous on the courts and outrageously tall, the 208 centimeters (6'8") tall teen acted nothing more than a five year old. Just as Tetsuya once described, he was a "kid with a loose screw" when not playing basketball.
"Akashi."
The said boy turned to face the last remaining in the room, Shintaro. The number-one ace shooter was sitting casually on the couch, both of his hands playing with a Hello-Kitty plushy Akashi had generously bought him today for his lucky item. His normally kept green hair was a wild jungle from the lack of sleep as of last night.
After they had all managed to calm the distressed teen from yesterday, each one took turns feeding Kuroko. With the crying boy too shaky and traumatized to eat himself, they all taken turns to help him eat. Twice Kuroko refused the food, and twice Akashi ordered him to accept it and eat. Somehow the food was cleaned, both the salad and soup. The tea was only half full since it had turned cold during his breakdown.
Everyone went to bed right after. With sleeping accommodations already made, Aomine, Kise, and Murasakibara had fallen asleep right as their head hit the pillows. They had a perfect, restful night. It was a different story for Midorima, Akashi, and Kuroko, however. Being the second lightest sleeper next to Akashi, the green head found himself waking up every hour or so by Kuroko's cry for help. The fragile teen had more nightmares than Midorima could count. Every time he woke up, he found Kuroko clinging onto Akashi's shirt, his head buried into the nape of his neck. Both players, wide awake, helped comfort the sobbing boy.
Now the same two people with dark rings under their eyes looked at each other from across the room. Even though they had looked like they left on bad terms when separating to high school, they knew they witnessed a large part of Kuroko's suffering. And it was something both could not stand.
"Yes, Shintaro? Would you like to take the guest room and rest? I'm aware you have a late practice tonight."
Midorima sighed. Of course their past captain knew each and every one of their basketball schedules. But he had something else to discuss. "What are we going to do, Akashi?" he asked, ignoring the tempting request of a guest room. "We need to get Kuroko out of that house. He doesn't need to suffer any longer."
A small water bottle wrinkled loudly under Akashi's hand. His 'underling' almost flinched at the sound. "I am aware of that, Shintaro."
Small bursts of anger boiled in Midorima's chest. "If you are aware, then why are you not doing anything about it? Why can't his father report it to the authorities? It's been going on for at least five years; we have enough proof and witnesses! I understand why Kuroko will not speak up, but his pain is not necessary. So why—"
Loud crashes of glass boomed loudly in Midorima's ears. He winced as bits of glass skittered across the floor, each fragment sharp and dangerous. Milk splattered against the glossy wooden flooring and carpet. One small piece fell directly onto the formidable player's foot, pricking it and drawing blood. There was no sign of it affecting the victim.
Akashi had apparently slammed his palms against the table too hard, sending the glass of milk toppling over the edge and crashing to the ground. Deep breaths came from the upset teen, who was supposed to be best one to have the most controlled anger out of the Generation of Miracles. It seemed Midorima's words affected him more than he would have liked. A loud gulp was emitted in the room. They didn't know who swallowed.
"You have no idea what Kuroko Ibuki is capable of, Shintaro," Akashi said quietly. "It will not matter if we have one hundred witnesses of her beating Tetsuya. She owns three of the largest corporations in Japan. She has connections that go deeper than the government. She can have a criminal record swept clean just from her words. She can get the best lawyers against us. If we make one mistake, she will divorce Kuroko Haru, the only source that is keeping Tetsuya here, and custody of Tetsu will immediately be in her hands." A crazed glint came into his red and yellow eyes. Something vicious of a smile appeared on his face. "That is how much influence she has in Japan."
Midorima could feel goose bumps appearing along his arms and back. He had never met Kuroko's mother, yet he felt strangely connected with her. Was it because of he was aware she was the woman hurting Kuroko, or was it because he had heard of her name so many times, he felt like he didn't have to meet her to know her? Only Akashi, Kise, and Aomine had met Kuroko Ibuki, and that was by accident. From what he had heard from Kise, Kuroko had had his training menu doubled because of his lack of effort in training his body. This caused for him to lose track of time, and Ibuki herself came to the gym where she knew her son was training.
Just from Kuroko's reaction to the woman, Akashi connected the dots to the increasing injuries he had spotted whenever Kuroko came to games or practices. Yet, knowing how much power Ibuki had, he reluctantly let the teal-haired boy go home.
The next day, Kuroko came in with a broken arm, severely apologizing for the inconvenience and that he had tripped on the stairs. But everybody knew, including himself when he was informed the next day.
"What about your father?" Midorima demanded. "Doesn't he own a large law office?"
"My father," Akashi said coldly, "cannot beat the people who Ibuki has connections with."
"Then what can we do?"
The red head pushed himself off the table and squared his shoulders. "I do have a plan to help Kuroko. However, we will need many trustworthy people." He eyed the door. "With Ibuki's large influence, it will be hard to find them." There was this one person, though, and he knew for a fact the person hated Ibuki as much as the Generation of Miracles hated her. "Shintaro, get ready to leave. We will be taking a short walk."
"Where are we going?" Midorima squeezed his plushy.
Akashi didn't answer. Instead, he walked down the hall and called out to Kuroko's guard, "Daiki."
Aomine looked up from his phone. He was on the floor, right in front of the room Akashi's room. He didn't dare look out to the living room when he heard the loud crashes and arguing. "Yeah?"
"Is Tetsuya resting?"
"Yeah. He's asleep."
"Good. Keep him there. If he happens to be hungry, make him something. You are allowed to use my kitchen. Shintaro and I will be back, soon."
Aomine yawned. "Yeah, yeah."
The red-head eyed him before turning back down the hall. Aomine waited for the sound of the door slamming before breathing a sigh of relief. "Now that they're gone, maybe I can finally take my nap. It's not as if Tetsu's going anywhere."
He was out in seconds.
~In the Room~
Kuroko painfully put on his borrowed basketball shoes. Ever since Aomine closed the door on him, he had put his plan into action. He didn't know where his jacket and pants were, so he had looked in Akashi's closet to find some loose shirts and shorts. Once he found them, he changed into them slowly.
Now, fully prepared with Akashi's wristband, clothes, and basketball shoes, Kuroko put his ear to the door. Light snoring came from the other side. The teal-haired boy smiled, glad he was right that his former partner would go to sleep at any chance he would get. Quietly, just like a shadow, Kuroko opened the door, slipped past Aomine, and managed to get through the front door.
Fresh air greeted him instantly. It felt good to feel the cold and refreshing air. He limped down the steps, using the railings beside him to help. He managed to walk all the way to the curb of the street without falling and called for a taxi, since he didn't know where he was.
"Seirin High School," Kuroko said. "Please."
The taxi driver nodded and started a U-turn.
Surprisingly, the distance between Akashi's temporary complex and his school were not that far. Kuroko paid the driver with the money he 'borrowed' from a cabinet he snooped through (he made a mental note to pay his old captain back). Swallowing down the pain, the short boy limped all the way around the school to get to the gym. His back hurt from the strain, and he almost tripped over himself during the walk.
The sound of basketballs slapping against the gym floor made him smile. Riko-san is probably going to yell at me, Kuroko noted. Almost too eagerly, the teenager opened the double doors and dragged his body inside.
His appearance was everything but invisible. All heads turned, basketballs stopped dribbling, and mouths dropped open. He stood awkwardly at the edge of the gym, shuffling uneasily at the silence. "Ano . . . I'm back?"
"Kuroko!" A girl squealed. He turned his head, only for his face to be met by a person's clothing. Riko Aida squeezed the smaller boy with all her strength. Kuroko had to fight back a whimper from escaping. All the pressure on his back made his eyes almost teary. "Oh, we were so worried! Kagami-kun kept calling you, and we even asked the principal if you came back yet! I mean, I can't believe you actually got sick! Were you sick? Finally, you're here, I was worried you wouldn't come! And, we also brought your—"
"Tetsu-kun," a sweet, drawling voice crooned. A tall, teal-haired woman stepped into view. Kuroko's blood froze. "Come greet your mother."
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